Toy aircraft having weighted and reinforced structure



Nov. 17, 1970 G. LOWE 540 49 TOY AIRCRAFT HAVING WEIGHTED AND REINFORCED STRUCTURE Filed July 8, 1970.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 2:)2

LEWIS e. LOWE Fig 4 BY fkgg P.

' ATTORNEY Nov. 17,1970 L. G. LowE 3,540,149

TOY AIRCRAFT HAVING WEIGHTED AND REINFORCED STRUCTURE Filed July 8, 1.970

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig-5 INVENTOR. LEWIS G. LOWE 330 340 BY ATTORNEY ates ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A toy aircraft made from three foldable blanks. One blank includes a pair of wings shaped like birds wings and a fuselage shaped like a birds head, body and tail, and has an elongated opening for receiving a weighted strip along the fuselage. A second blank provides reinforcement for the fuselage, an additional connection between the wings and fuselage, and a covering for the weighted strip. The third blank extends across the tops of the two wings and has a portion folded under it, with an elongated opening for receiving a second weighted bendable metal strip that extends transversely to the first strip and projects laterally beyond both sides of the fuselage and into the wings for holding them at the desired dihedral angle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention Considerable has been done in the designing of toy aircraft made from blanks that are cut and folded in a predetermined manner. It is desirable to make them look like aircraft as well as have them glide gracefully through the air when they are released by a throwing action of a persons arm. It is necessary to give weight and rigidity to the aircraft at certain points and to have the center of gravity at a desired place on the fuselage.

Description of the prior art The patent to Russell P. Ferlen on a model airplane, No. 2,825,179, issued Mar. 4, 1958, and the patent to William J. Shapiro, on a toy aircraft and blank, No. 3,221,441, issued Dec. 7, 1965, both show blanks that can be folded to represent an airplane. Neither patent shows the provision of an opening in the fuselage portion of the blank for receiving a weighted strip that extends lengthwise along the fuselage, the weight being concealed and held in place by a second blank that is folded so as to form a part of the fuselage, the second blank also reinforcing the airplane wings. Also neither patent shows a third blank provided with an opening for receiving a second weighted strip that extends laterally across the first strip and serves the triple purpose of: (1) giving rigidity to the wing structure; (2) adding weight near the center of gravity of the airplane; and (3) holding the wings at the desired dihedral angle. The third blank holds the second weighted strip in place and conceals it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of my invention is to provide a sheet of material that has three blanks die cut therein that can be readily removed from the sheet. The three blanks have fold lines indicated thereon. The first blank forms the wings and fuselage of the airplane when folded. The wings and fuselage are shaped to resemble the wings and body of a bird. An opening in the fuselage receives a weighted strip. The second blank when folded is adapted to be secured to the fuselage by adhesive and will give body and strength to it as well as cover the strip. The third blank has an opening for receiving a second weighted atent 3,54%,149 Patented Nov. 17, 1970 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the completely constructed airplane.

FIG. 2 illustrates a sheet of material with the three blanks being die-cut therein.

FIG. 3 shows one of the blanks folded preparatory to being applied to the tops of the two airplane wings.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view and shows the fuselage reinforcing blank in partially folded position. The thickness of the material is shown by a single line.

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the completely constructed airplane.

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of one of the weighted strips.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In carrying out my invention I provide a sheet of material A, that has three die-cut blanks B, C and D thereon. The blank B, has a die-cut outline 1 with uncut spaces 2 for holding the blank to the sheet A, until the blank is punched out by fingers or the uncut portions 2 are cut by scissors. In like manner the blank C, has a die-cut outline 3 with uncut spaces 4, and the blank D, has a die-cut outline 5 with uncut spaces 6.

The blank B, has a fuselage portion bounded by a pair of outwardly flared dash lines 7 and 8. A dotted median line 9 bisects the angle formed by the diverging dotted lines and this line extends throughout the entire length of the fuselage. The blank B has a die-cut rectangular outline 10 with uncut spaces 11 which hold the material, bordered by the die-cut rectangle, to the blank. The die-cut rectangle 12 may be punched out by using the fingers or the die, not shown, could cut a rectangular opening in the blank B. One edge 13 of the rectangular-shaped die-cut 10 coincides with the median dotted line 9 and it will be noted that the die-cut is placed near to the front end of the fuselage portion of the blank B.

The blank B when removed from the sheet A is folded along the median fold line 9, see FIG. 2, where the line 9 is shown, and then is folded again along the fold lines 7 and 8. This will bring the triangular area 14, defined by the dash lines 7 and 9, up against another triangular area 15 which is defined by the dash lines 8 and 9. An adhesive may be applied to the two triangular areas 14 and 15 for permanently securing them together in folded position to form a part of the fuselage of the completed airplane.

The fold line 7 acts as a connection between the fuselage portion 14 of the blank I), with a wing portion 16 of the blank, see FIG. 2. In like manner the fold line 8 acts as a connection between the fuselage portion 15 with a wing portion 17. The two fold lines 7 and 8 will coincide With each other and the common plane of the two wings will extend at right angles to the plane formed by the two triangular portions 14 and 15 when they are brought together in confronting relation. Two tail sections 18 and 19 on the blank B, also extend from the fold lines 7 and 8 and these tail sections may be shaped to resemble the tail of a bird. Also the wing portions 16 and 17 may be cut to resemble the wings of a bird with trailing feathers.

The blank C is now removed from the sheet A, and is folded and glued together as a unit forming a V-shaped trough to receive the fuselage before the blank C is applied to the fuselage and to the undersides of the wings 16 and 17, see the perspective view of the partially folded blank in FIG. 4. In folding the blank C, the first fold is made along the dash line and then the confronting areas of the portions 21 and 21a that are disposed adjacent to the fold line are glued together. Next a fold is made along the dash line 27 and the adjacent confronting areas of the portions 22 and 22a to this dash line are glued together. This is followed by folding along the dash line 26 and gluing together the confronting areas of the portions 21a and 2112. It will be noted that both surfaces or areas of the portion 21a have adhesive applied thereto.

In like manner a fold is made along dash line 28 and the confronting areas of the portions 22a and 22b are glued together. Then a fold is made along the center dash line 20 to form the two triple thick walls into a V-shaped trough that can receive the fuselage made up from the two triangular sections 14 and 15. The rounded front edge 23 of the combined portions 21 and 22 of the blank C is the same as the rounded front edge 24 of the combined triangular portions 14 and 15 of the blank B, and the two rounded edges 23 and 24 are brought into alignment with each other. Before the area 21 of the blank C covers a portion of the triangular area 14 of the blank B, a weighted strip of metal E, see FIG. 6, of a slightly smaller size than the rectangular opening 10, is placed in the opening and will bear against the adjacent area of the triangular portion 15. The adhesive on this portion will hold the metal strip in place andnow the area 21 of the blank C can cover the strip and hide it. The foldindicating dash lines 25, 26, 27 and 28 on the blank C, in FIG. 2, are inclined at various angles to the central dash line 20, and all have a common center which coincides with the center for the dash lines 7 and 8 on the blank B, when the folded blank C is applied to the folded blank B. The purpose of this is to provide a fuselage which will be tapered from the front of the airplane to the rear, see FIG. 1.

The folded blank C, not only gives the fuselage added thickness and body to that portion underlying the wings 16 and 17, but it also has tab portions 29 and 30 that are contiguous with their adjacent portions 21b and 22b, respectively, and are designed to be folded along dash lines 31 and 32, respectively, see FIGS. 2 and 4. The tab portions 29 and 30 underlie the wings 16 and 17, see FIG. 5, and are secured thereto by adhesive. These tabs will reinforce the wings at their line of connection with the fuselage.

I will now describe the blank D, see FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, and how it is secured to the tops of the wings 16 and 17 to complete the structure of the airplane. In FIG. 2 the blank D is shown provided with wing portions 33 and 34, and with a projection 35 that can be folded along the dash line 36. The projection 35 has a rectangularly-shaped die cut 37 that extends transverse to a median line that bisects the two wing portions 33 and 34. The rectangular die-cut 37 has uncut spaces 38 that holds the portion 39 in place within the projection 35 until it is manually pushed out. The die portion for the rectangular cut 37 could cut the opening 37 in the blank D, if desired. The leading edge 33a for the wing portion 33 of the blank D is shaped to coincide with the leading edge 16a of the wing portion 16 of the blank B, and likewise the leading edge 34a for the wing portion 34 of the blank D, is shaped to coincide with the leading edge 17a of the wing portion 17, when the blank D is placed over the blank B, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

Before this is done, the projection 35 is folded along the dash line 36 so as to be swung into a position underlying the blank D, and the bottom plan view of the blank is shown in FIG. 3 with the projection 35 in folded position. A second weighted metal strip E is inserted in the rectangular opening 37. FIG. 1 illustrates the blank D applied to the top of the wings 16 and 17 with the projection 35 being folded under the blank so as to be covered thereby. The projection 35 will extend equal distances over both wings 16 and 17 and so will likewise the rectangular weighted metal strip E. Adhesive is used for securing the blank D to the wings 16 and 17. The plane of the metal strip E extends at right angles to the plane of the metal strip E, and their relative positions in the completed airplane is indicated in FIG. 1.

The airplane is made to resemble a bird and to glide like one when propelled from the hand. The two weights E and E will give strength and rigidity to the fuselage and 'wings at the center of gravity for the airplane. FIG. 4 shows how the blank C is folded before being applied to the blank B, and FIG. 5 shows a bottom plan view of the finished airplane and shows the blank C applied to the fuselage of the blank B, and the tabs 29 and 30 glued to the underside of the wings 16 and 17, respectively. The confronting surfaces of the portions 21b and 22b are glued to the adjacent surfaces of the fuselage of the blank B. The blank C in its folded form provides a single V-fold that supports the fuselage of the blank B. The single V-fold is stronger, has fewer open areas susceptible to damage and presents a clean and aesthetically pleasing line.

I claim:

1. A model airplane formed from sheet material and comprising:

(a) a first blank having wings and a fuselage, said wings and fuselage lying in nonparallel planes;

(b) a second blank having wing portions adapted to be secured to the tops of the wings of said first blank, said second blank having an opening for receiving a metal strip; and

(c) bendable means for maintaining said wings at selected dihedral angles, said means comprising an elongated metal strip carried by said second blank and being received in said opening and having its midpoint lying in the plane of the fuselage so that the ends of the strip extend toward the ends of the wings of said first blank and lie in the planes of these wings, said strip being bendable at its midpoint for forming said dihedral angles, the sides of which coincide with the planes of the wings.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1, and in which:

(a) a third blank has portions that when folded form a V-fold that receives and lies adjacent to the fuselage of the first blank for strengthening and adding body thereto, the third blank also having tabs that are secured to the underside of said wings for aiding in supporting them.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1, and in which:

(a) the fuselage of said rfirst blank has an opening for receiving a second elongated metal strip that extends in the direction of the length of the fuselage and at substantial right angles to the plane of the firstmentioned metal strip, both strips being positioned near the center of gravity of the airplane with the first metal strip being positioned above and extending across a portion of said second metal strip.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 3, and in which:

(a) a third blank has portions that when folded form a V-fold that snugly receives the fuselage of the first blank and covers said second metal strip.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 1, and in which:

(a) said second blanik has a projection integral therewith and positioned at the juncture of said wing portions, the projection having the opening for receiving said metal strip, said opening being of the same size and shape as the metal strip and the projection being foldable under said wing portions so as to be (e) a third blank including means for forming, when covered thereby and positioning said strip between folded, a V-portion for snugly receiving and reinforcthe wings of said first blank and the wing portions ing the fuselage and covering said first metal strip, of said second blank so that the midportion of the both of said metal strips being disposed near the metal strip overlies the fuselage of said first blank; center of gravity of the airplane. the thickness of said metal strip being substantially 7. The combination as set forth in claim 6, and in equal to the thickness of said projection. which:

'6. A model airplane formed from sheet material and (a) said second metal strip has its midpoint lying in the comprising: plane of the fuselage so that the ends of the strip (a) a first blank having wings and a fuselage, said 10 extend toward the ends of said wings of said first wings and fuselage lying in nonparallel planes with blank and lie in the planes of these wings, said second an opening in a part of the fuselage underlying the strip being bendable at its midpoint for forming a wings; dihedral angle, the sides of which coincide with the (b) a first metal strip mounted in the opening and seplanes of said wings, the second strip maintaining cured to the fuselage so as to extend in the direction the wings at the same dihedral angle as that of the of the length of said fuselage; second metal strip.

(c) a second blank having wing portions with a foldable projection positioned at the juncture of said wing R fere Cit d gggtiglrsazludrilgaving an opening for receiving a sec UNITED STATES PATENTS (d) a second metal strip of a size and shape to be 1 344 520 1920 Roth mounted in the opening in said projection and dis- 1 420 305 1922 Baehr 7 posed between said wing portions of said second 2 505 541 4/1950 Guillow blank and the wings of said first blank when said projection is folded under said Wing portions and BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner said second blank is placed on top of said Wings of said first blank and is secured thereto; and 

